This invention relates generally to underfloor electrical distribution systems, and more particularly to a novel and improved underfloor preset box or access housing having a cover which is hinged to allow access to frequently used electrical receptacles. Prior art housings generally include a box which is in communication with one or more underfloor raceway cells having power or telephone cables therein. Such access housings provide an opening which is flush with a finished floor and provide for an electrical plug receptacle along with space for other service connections, such as telephone connections or the like. One such housing is illustrated in Fork U.S. Pat. No. 3,701,837, granted Oct. 31, 1972, and another such arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 28,035, granted June 4, 1974. The housing illustrated in both patents is rectangular in shape, and is provided with a circular floor opening located in the upper wall of the rectangular housing. Those housings are preset on the raceways so that communication is provided through access openings in the housing and in the raceways. Typically, the box would communicate with a raceway containing telephone cables and with a raceway containing electrical power. A plug receptacle is wired into the power cables and a telephone connection is made in the same box.
The concrete floor is poured up to the level of the upper edge of the box, and an access cover is provided for telephone servicing and insertion or removal of the plug of a typewriter, a lamp, or the like.
Those covers are normally bolted into the housing, and since plugs are frequently removed from the housing, it is necessary to unscrew a number of bolts each time a plug is removed or inserted. There exists a prior art arrangement which overcomes this problem by providing an access housing having a hinged access cover. However, when the cover is opened to expose the receptacles, the telephone connection is also exposed and there exists the possibility of disturbing those connections. Such a construction is set forth in Rollform Products, Inc. catalogue No. 751, pages 5 through 8.